1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a connector and a connector assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 6,712,635 discloses a connector with a mating housing that has a lock receiving portion and a housing main body that is connectable to the mating housing. A resiliently deformable lock arm extends back from a front end part of the housing main body. A detector is mounted on the housing main body and can move from an initial position to a detection position. A resiliently deformable arm is cantilevered forward on the detector.
A front part of the resilient arm contacts the lock arm from behind before the housing main body is connected to the mating housing and holds the detector at the initial position with a forward movement thereof restricted. On the other hand, the lock arm resiliently engages the lock receiving portion when the housing main body is connected properly to the mating housing for holding the housing main body and the mating housing in a connected state. The detector is released from a movement restricted state at the initial position and is permitted to move to the detection position when the housing main body is connected properly to the mating housing. The lock receiving portion is in a deformation space for the lock arm at the detection position and a leading end of the resilient arm is inserted in a through hole in the lock arm. Thus, the detector reaches the detection position and detects that the housing main body has been connected properly to the mating housing.
The front end of the resilient arm might not contact the lock arm at the initial position due or may contact the lock arm with an improper overlap margin due to a design error or the like. An improper initial position of the detector can affect detection reliability. Obtaining a proper overlap margin between the lock arm and the resilient arm requires dimensional setting of the detector to be managed strictly and may reduce productivity.
The invention was completed in view of the above situation and an object thereof is to improve detection reliability while facilitating dimensional management of a detector.